LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has called a special Friday morning meeting to discuss issues arising from the sheriff’s decision earlier this week to abruptly cut off the access of Lakeport Police and the Probation Department to a county law enforcement records management system.

The special meeting will take place beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, April 26, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

The meeting was called on Thursday morning in response to a request from the city of Lakeport for immediate action after Sheriff Frank Rivero locked the Lakeport Police Department out of the county’s Records Information Management System, or RIMS, without notice on Tuesday.

On the same day, Lake County Probation was locked out, also without any warning, according to Probation Chief Rob Howe.

Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen contends that Rivero’s actions compromise public and officer safety.

The board will discuss the RIMS system and consider options for how to provide efficient and cooperative access to RIMS to all local law enforcement agencies in order to ensure public safety.

With Board Chair Jeff Smith out of town, and Supervisor Anthony Farrington also unavailable due to his weekend wedding, Vice Chair Denise Rushing will run the meeting, with Supervisor Jim Comstock and Supervisor Rob Brown also set to attend, Brown said Thursday.

Local law enforcement agencies have had access to the county’s RIMS system for years. It enables them to share information on cases, investigations and individuals.

Rivero is claiming that, in the case of Lakeport Police, the agency’s staff were using the system inappropriately. Howe said he has so far not been provided a clear reason why his agency’s access was cut.

However, it’s alleged that Rivero has cut off access to the system before in response to personal disagreements with other law enforcement agencies, as District Attorney Don Anderson said Rivero did to his department in April 2011.

Anderson said Rivero has refused to restore the District Attorney’s Office’s access even after signing a formal agreement to do so in October 2011.

Rivero had granted Rasmussen and his command staff temporary access to the system but that access was completely cut off on Thursday morning, Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen said he and his command staff will be at Friday’s meeting, as will Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira, City Attorney Steve Brookes and members of the Lakeport City Council.

Anderson confirmed he also will be in attendance in order to support Rasmussen.

“If I need to say something, I’ll say it,” Anderson said.

Howe also plans to attend. On Thursday, Probation’s access still had not been restored.

He said Rivero has offered to allow one Probation staffer access, but that solution is not efficient and doesn’t address the agency’s needs for tracking probationers or creating the reports it is required to submit to the Lake County Superior Court.

Howe said that he hopes after Friday’s special meeting there will be a better solution to the problem.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors approved a request from the county’s Special Districts administrator to quickly move forward with hiring an engineer to look at relocating water and sewer infrastructure at a north Lakeport subdivision where sinking ground has destroyed several homes.

A week after the board declared a local emergency, it gave Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger the go-ahead to waive the formal bidding process to hire a civil sanitary engineer to come up with a design for moving the damaged infrastructure at Lakeside Heights.

The board also approved a resolution to transfer $350,000 from a county fund for an emergency loan to help cover the work.

Regarding negotiating a contract with an engineer and getting a design for moving the infrastructure, “I think it can happen pretty quickly,” Dellinger told Lake County News later on Tuesday.

Time is of the essence in the situation. “The movement hasn’t stopped,” Dellinger said. “It continues to move.”

Over the weekend, part of one of the damaged houses fell off, and the county has ordered abatement on the red-tagged homes.

Supervisor Rob Brown recused himself from the Tuesday discussion due to the fact that his daughter and son-in-law live in the subdivision.

Jared Pratt, a senior engineering geologist with RGH Consultants, the geotechnical consulting firm working with the county to assess the Lakeside Heights landslide, accompanied Dellinger to the meeting to offer an update on his findings.

Pratt has reviewed original plans for the subdivision, where work began in the early 1980s, and on the maps he found concerning topographical anomalies in the area of the landslide, which runs along Lancaster Road.

He said he also looked at grading on the maps, and in the area where homes are slipping off the hill there is fill that is as deep as 16 feet.

Pratt said his firm has drilled holes and installed monitors to track ground movement, conducted geologic mapping and considered options for helping stabilize the area, including drilled piers to help protect the infrastructure. A large retaining wall that could be used would cost around $500,000, according to an estimate he got from a friend who is a contractor.

There has been work to drain the hillside, and Pratt said water initially decreased but now has increased again.

Pointing to the grading, the topographical anomaly and weight loads being placed on top of the suspect area, he said the landslide has occurred. “There are a lot of driving forces.”

The land is still moving, with two scarps – areas where land is eroding and separating – developing along the front yards of unbuilt lots on Lancaster Road, as well as coming off the hillside perpendicular to Lancaster Road.

Pratt said the ground movement will continue until they remove the driving forces and it reaches an equilibrium.

Dellinger told the board that a sewer bypass will remain in place until they can implement a longterm solution. He said he was “pretty desperate” to get engineering services under contract so they could start looking at how to relocate the water and sewer infrastructure.

He said a US Geological Survey staffer was set to visit the county on Tuesday afternoon to survey the landslide area with Pratt.

During the meeting, Randall Fitzgerald, who lives on Lancaster Road, asked Pratt about the depth of the borings due to monitor the area. Pratt said the holes ranged in depth from 30 to 40 feet, with water detected at varying depths in those borings.

Dellinger told Lake County News that Pratt is still working to finalize his report on the subdivision landslide.

The county is pursuing funding through the California Department of Public Health and the California Emergency Management Agency – thanks to help from the local Office of Emergency Services – to assist with moving the water and sewer infrastructure at Lakeside Heights, Dellinger said.

“We’re seeking multiple funding sources. We don’t know which ones we’re going to be successful on,” Dellinger said.

He said the various agencies will have requirements and “milestones” for their applications. “That’s just one more reason to get this process going.”
 
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Due to new information about limits on how the funds can be spent, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday delayed a decision on an ordinance establishing a pass-through fee to support the county’s cable access television station.

The board passed the first reading of the ordinance to place a 1-percent fee on Mediacom customers’ bills at its meeting on April 9, as Lake County News has reported. The vote was 3-2, with Jim Comstock and Rob Brown voting no.

It’s anticipated that the pass-through fee would raise as much as $55,000 a year for TV8, the Public Education and Government station headquartered at Clearlake City Hall.

Since the board approved the ordinance’s first reading, County Counsel Anita Grant has been researching whether or not the board could, in the future, withdraw the ordinance should it not feel the station’s services and performance are improving, an issue raised by Supervisor Anthony Farrington.

The concerns arose because, beginning this fall, the state will begin handling such franchise agreements as the county has with Mediacom based on changes in the law that took place several years ago. The concern was that the fee would become part of the permanent franchise agreement.

Grant’s conclusion was that under existing law – in particular, the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006, or DIVCA – the state will take over the franchise but the county will still have limited access, and could withdraw the ordinance and the fee at some future time.

However, there was another concern, namely, that the funds can’t be used for ongoing operations or personnel.

Shawn Swatosh, Mediacom’s senior operations manager for Northern California, had raised that point at the April 9 meeting, noting that the funds could only be used for capital expense. County officials indicated at that the time that they weren’t aware of that rule.

It turns out that Swatosh was right. That changes the picture for PEG, whose board previously had submitted to the county and the cities a business plan that included a proposal to use the pass-through funds to pay for a station manager.

Grant told Lake County News in a Tuesday interview that Swatosh’s comment at the April 9 piqued her curiosity.

“That’s what made me look at it,” she said.

She said she and her staff began digging into FCC rulings and court decisions.

They found that in 2007 the FCC issued two different rulings addressing how fees for PEG stations can be used. In those rulings, the FCC determined that acceptable expenditures included cameras and other equipment, vehicles, even construction of a facility, but not ongoing operational expenses such as salaries.

Those rulings were tested – and, ultimately, affirmed – by the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the FCC is entitled to make such rulings, Grant explained.

As such, Grant suggested to the board Tuesday that the proposed ordinance’s language be changed, with a reference to PEG facility operations to be replaced by language stating that the funds would be used for purposes consistent with state and federal law.

That change in language, she said, would require a new first reading of the ordinance, which would have to come back for a second reading before final approval.

Farrington said the information about how the money can be spent changed the picture for him, as he had been advocating for the pass-through based on improving the station’s service and quality.

If they can’t use the funds for personnel but only for capital expenditures, Farrington asked how the station could accomplish those improvements.

“Having just heard this, I’m wondering about that myself,” said PEG Board Vice Chair Ed Robey, adding that the money would have to come from elsewhere.

Farrington said that the 1 percent pass-through fee may generate more money than the station needs for equipment, and he wondered if it made sense to table the discussion and look at a smaller fee.

Robey said the station could use about $50,000 in equipment to fully automate it.

“This kind of changes everything for me,” said Farrington, who said he wanted to look at a smaller percentage or one-time contributions from the cities and county.

Supervisor Jeff Smith said he felt the matter should go back to the PEG Board for further discussion, suggesting that it is the perfect time to have either Yuba College or a local school run the station.

“We can really make the station a state-of-the-art system,” Smith said.

Referring to the pass-through, Supervisor Denise Rushing said she felt they had a window of opportunity that is going to close.

While she agreed that the 1-percent might be a bit rich, she said that is the right amount to get the needed equipment in the first year, and suggested that a sunset or a review could be implemented, although Grant said that would make it difficult for the station’s long range planning.

Grant told the board it could advance the matter to the May 14 meeting and let the PEG Board come back with a proposal covering its needs.

Rushing asked if they could implement 1 percent in the first year and then drop the amount of the pass-through. Grant said yes.

“We have to justify any rate increases we make,” said Farrington.

He said he was more comfortable in seeing a plan if the funds can only be used for capital expenses or equipment. Farrington said he was no longer looking at 1 percent, but rather half a cent.

Rushing asked if they could continue the matter, and Grant said they could.

The board voted 5-0 to put off the matter until 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 14. Smith said that will give the PEG Board time to meet on May 8; he also suggested the PEG Board call a special meeting.

The PEG Board apparently took Smith’s advice and issued an agenda on Tuesday afternoon for a special meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, April 25. At that meeting they will discuss the supervisors’ action on the ordinance, review the regulations on the pass-through fund uses and develop a response.

Ahead of the special Thursday meeting, Grant said Robey has asked for information and legal citations relating to the FCC rulings and Sixth Circuit Court decisions.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – This week the Clearlake City Council will discuss the award of Safe Routes to School projects to a contractor and consider an amendment to city rules governing pay for council members.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 25, in the council chambers at Clearlake City Hall, 14050 Olympic Drive.

The Safe Routes to School projects are proposed for Austin and Arrowhead roads, according to City Manager Joan Phillipe’s report to the council.

The city received eight bids for the projects, ranging between $132,915 and $191,994. Phillipe reported that the low bid, which came from Robert J. Frank Construction Co. of Redding, is below the engineer’s estimate of $141,053. Approximately $169,100 has been allocated from the construction fund for the work.

She said the projects’ funding comes from the Caltrans Safe Route to Schools grant program.

Phillipe also will ask the council to consider amending Chapter 2 of the city’s municipal code relating to council member salaries.

She explained in her report that because the city has a population of less than 35,000, it has a per-month salary of $300.

City municipal code stipulates, “No compensation shall be paid for any partial month of service which results from assuming or leaving office.”

She said that means that a council member leaving office at the start of December, the month changeovers in seats usually takes place in election years, does not receive pay; neither does a new council member participating in just one meeting that month.

During the last election, with two council members leaving and two new ones coming on, “it came to staff’s attention that this provision existed but had not been adhered to for at least the last several elections,” Phillipe reported.

She said the interim finance director’s research found they had been paying the monthly salary both to outgoing and incoming council members in Decembers following elections.

Phillipe said staff is recommending striking that sentence in the municipal code in order to provide for the $300 payment, regardless of the partial month due to leaving or assuming office, “inasmuch as both outgoing and incoming councilmembers provide service to the community during that transition month,” she wrote.

On Thursday the council also will hear a proposal from Mayor Jeri Spittler regarding having the city co-sponsor a “trunk or treat” event in the city this Halloween.

Consent agenda items include adoption of a resolution approving the fee schedule for taxi cabs and other for-hire vehicles, based on the council’s final approval at its last meeting of a new ordinance governing such vehicles; minutes of the council meetings on Feb. 28, March 14, March 28 and April 11; and minutes of the March 13 Lake County Vector Control District meeting.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

042513 Clearlake City Council - Safe Routes to School Projects

042513 Clearlake City Council - Council Members Salaries

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The situation at a north Lakeport subdivision continued to worsen on Sunday, as part of a damaged house fell off and a neighbor nearby reported finding damage to a home where none had been previously.

Over the last month the situation at Lakeside Heights, located on a hilltop overlooking Hill Road and across from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, has created concern for residents and local officials.

A slipping hillside has caused irreparable damage to several homes which were red-tagged, as Lake County News has reported.

Despite the effort to remove water from the saturated ground – which officials believe has led to the sinking homes – the ground has continued to move, with new fissures opening up.

On Sunday afternoon, neighbors reported hearing the back of one of the homes fall off.

Nearby, a house has sunk into a hole and a third is jutting over the hillside, with part of its foundation and its back deck having pulled loose and fallen away with the deteriorating ground.

On the other side of Lancaster Road, where all of the damaged homes have so far been located, resident Rick Schnabl found cracks developing in his walls and an exterior door that now is difficult to open, signs he said his neighbors experienced at their homes before more serious damage set in.

He said they’re not sure whether to stay or go. “You’re between the rock and the hard spot.”

An update on the subdivision and strategies for protecting the county’s water and sewer infrastructure is set to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday at 10:45 a.m.

Schnabl is the son-in-law of Supervisor Rob Brown, who has recused himself from the discussions regarding Lakeside Heights due to a potential conflict of interest relating to his family members’ homeownership there.

John Jensen contributed to this report.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors this week will discuss options for protecting public water and sewer infrastructure as a landslide at a north Lakeport subdivision continues to worsen, and will hold a second reading on a pass-through fee to raise funds for the county’s cable access television station.

The meeting will take place beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport. It will be broadcast live on TV8.

At 10:45 a.m., Special Districts Administrator Mark Dellinger will present to the board a status report and ask for discussion and consideration of options to protect the public water and sewer systems at Lakeside Heights subdivision.

Over the past month, a hillside at the north Lakeport subdivision has deteriorated, with several homes irreparably damaged and requiring demolition, as Lake County News has reported.

A geotechnical engineer is working with Special Districts to formulate a plan for moving forward. Horizontal borings to remove water from the hillside have helped address ground saturation, but Dellinger told the board at its meeting last week that the ground continues to sink.

In an untimed item, the board will hold a second reading of an ordinance to assess a 1-percent pass-through fee on Mediacom customers’ bills to fund TV8, the Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) cable access TV station.

The board approved the initial reading of the ordinance at its April 9 in a 3-2 vote. County Counsel Anita Grant is expected to report back on whether the fee would become permanent due to change in how state franchises will be handled, which goes into effect this fall, or whether the board could, in the future, withdraw the ordinance.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda, at 9:30 a.m. the board will hear a presentation on the Clear Lake hitch endangered species candidacy review process. At 10:30 a.m., they will consider a proposed policy identifying every county employee as a mandated reporter of child abuse.

The full agenda follows.

TIMED ITEMS

9 a.m. A-1 to A-4: Approval of consent agenda, which includes items that are expected to be routine and noncontroversial, and will be acted upon by the board at one time without discussion; presentation of animals available for adoption at Lake County Animal Care and Control; consideration of items not appearing on the posted agenda, and contract change orders for current construction projects.

9:05 a.m.: Citizen’s input. Any person may speak for three minutes about any subject of concern, provided that it is within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors and is not already on the agenda. Prior to this time, speakers must fill out a slip giving name, address and subject (available in the clerk of the board’s office, first floor, courthouse).

9:10 a.m., A-5: (a) Presentation of proclamation designating the week of April 21-27, 2013, as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week; and (b) presentation of proclamation designating April 2013 as Autism Awareness Month; (c) presentation of proclamation designating April 2013 as Older Americans Month; and (d) presentation of proclamation designating the week of April 21-27 as National Volunteer Recognition Week.

9:15 a.m., A-6: Presentation of Lake County Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee Advisory Committee Annual Report.

9:30 a.m., A-7: Presentation regarding the Clear Lake Hitch endangered species candidacy review process.

10:15 a.m., A-8: (a) Consideration of proposed policy identifying every county employee as a mandated reporter of child abuse; and (b) consideration of the creation and implementation of employee training program.

10:30 a.m., A-9: Consideration of letter of support of SB 566 (Leno) California Industrial Hemp Farming Act.

10:45 a.m., A-10: Presentation of status report and discussion/consideration of options to protect the public water and sewer systems at Lakeside Heights Subdivision.

NONTIMED ITEMS

A-11: Supervisors’ weekly calendar, travel and reports.

A-12: Consideration of proposed resolution of support of SB 135 (Padilla) Earthquake Early Warning System Act.

A-13: Consideration of proposed ordinance adding Article Seven to Chapter Seven of the Lake County Code to provide support for Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) Cable Television Access Facilities. Second reading, advanced from April 9, 2013.

A-14: Consideration of proposed classification and salary adjustments within the Administrative Office.

A-15: Consideration of proposed resolution authorizing the chair to sign a notice of completion for the Middletown Library/Senior Center.

A-16: Consideration of interim guidelines on use of Middletown Library Community Meeting Rooms pending presentation of formal policy. Continued from April 16, 2013.

A-17: Consideration of proposed agreements between the county of Lake County Clerk and ExecuTime for automated time reporting payroll system.

A-18: (a) Consideration of proposed resolution authorizing the Air Pollution Management District to sign and submit the application for Carl Moyer Year 15 funding and other program documents; (b) consideration of request for board position regarding various program implementation priorities and processes.

A-19: (a) Consideration of request to waive formal bidding process; and (b) consideration of request to authorize the purchase and reconditioning of two used Kenworth T-700 dump trucks for county road
maintenance.

CLOSED SESSION

A-20: 1.Conference with labor negotiator: (a) county negotiators: A. Grant, L. Guintivano, M. Perry, and A. Flora; and (b) Deputy District Attorney's Association, Lake County Deputy Sheriff's Association, Lake County Correctional Officers Association, Lake County Employees Association and Lake County Safety Employees Association.

CONSENT AGENDA

C-1: Approve minutes of the Board of Supervisors meeting held on April 16, 2013.

C-2: (a) Adopt proclamation designating the week of April 21-27, 2013 as National Crime Victims’ Rights Week; and (b) adopt proclamation designating April 2013 as Autism Awareness Month; (c) Adopt Proclamation designating April 2013 as Older Americans Month; and (d) adopt proclamation designating the week of April 21-27 as National Volunteer Recognition Week.

C-3: (a) Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2012-107 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2012-2013, Budget Unit 6022, Library (delete one Library Technician and add one Librarian I); and (b) authorize reclassification of Librarian Technician Christopher Veach to Librarian I, effective May 1, 2013.

C-4: Approve letter of support for SB 191 (Padilla) to continue “Maddy” Emergency Medical Services and Richie Funding, and authorize all Supervisors to sign.

C-5: Waive 900 hour limit for extra help Janitor Diana Hasty.

C-6: Adopt resolution appropriating unanticipated revenue to Budget Unit 1231, County Counsel ($2000 from Air Quality Management District).

C-7: Adopt resolution authorizing grant application through the California Department of Public Health for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-ED) for Federal Fiscal Years October 2013 through September 2016 and authorize the Health Services director to sign.

C-8: Adopt resolution amending Resolution No. 2012-107 establishing position allocations for Fiscal Year 2012-2013, Budget Unit No. 1341, Human Resources (delete one (1) Human Resources Technician, and add one (1) Human Resources Analyst I/II).

C-9: Approve plans and specifications for construction of pavement rehabilitation on Lakeshore Boulevard from 2200 feet north of Park Way to Hill Road in Lake County, and authorize the Public Works director/assistant purchasing agent to advertise for bids.

C-10: Waive the formal bidding process on the basis that it would produce no economic benefit to the county; and (b) authorize the sheriff/assistant purchasing agent to issue a purchase order to VPI, in the amount of $32,357 plus applicable tax, for dispatch logging recorder, including installation, training and three years of maintenance and support (all funds provided by Homeland Security Anti-Terrorism
grant).

C-11: Approve cooperative Law Enforcement Annual Patrol Operations Plan and Financial Plan between the county of Lake, the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service for FY 2013/14 suppression of the manufacturing and trafficking of controlled substances and for patrolling the Pillsbury area, for a total amount of $70,906, and authorize the chair and sheriff to sign.

C-12: Approve agreement between the county of Lake and PJ Helicopters (total amount not to exceed $60,000) through Dec. 31, 2013, and authorize the chair to sign the agreements.

C-13: Approve advanced step hiring of Accounting Technician Pat Mclean, due to applicant’s extraordinary qualifications (5th step salary range).

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.